Monday, May 21, 2007

Elk Cove Vineyards 2006 Willamette Valley Pinot Gris

Tonight I am revisiting a favorite from last year, the Elk Cove Pinot Gris, but this time the new vintage, 2006.Elk Cove Vineyardswas founded in 1974 by Pat and Joe Campbell, and to this day it remains family owned and operated. In 1995 Adam Godlee Campbell joined the team as the winemaker. All the fruit is estate grown, the estate being 350 acres, 120 of the dedicated to vineyards.They use gravity flow and gentle handling to intervene to a minimum, to let the grape express itself in the wine.

The 2006 Willamette Valley Pinot Gris was whole cluster pressed, cold fermented in stainless steel tanks, and did not go through malolactic fermentation.It has a clear, very pale, straw color, with perhaps a hint of green, in the glass. On the nose white, sweet floral with citrus and a touch of tropical fruit. The first impression on the palate is that of medium viscosity and sweet, soft creaminess. As that subsides fresh citrus with great acidity kicks through and gives this wine a great refreshing feel at the finish.This vintage is a little more full bodied than the 2005, and has more flavor with higher viscosity and sweetness.What makes this wine so good though, is that the great acidity balances the round richness beautifully.

Thanks for the comment and the heads up on this one. I'll try and find it this weekend as I've been pleased with the Pinot Gris coming out of Oregon. Check out my review on Domaine Alfred Pinot Gris at http:www/365corks.com and pick some of that up if you get a chance as it is in my Top 10 of all wines.

Delighted to discover your Blog while Googling 2006 Elk Cove Pinot Gris. I've already passed it on to some friends. Can't wait to read more of your earlier postings.

Had already ordered a case of 2006 Elk Cove Pinot Gris and just received it Friday. And then found a couple of bottles of 2005 that I thought were all gone. 2005 was terrific and I hope the 2006 will equal or surpass it. It's our perfect summer wine and several more cases are on the way from one of our favorite wine stores, this one in CN that we order from over the Internet. Can't get Elk Cove locally.

Just spent a day and a half in Santa Barbara wine country for the first time, at the end of a business trip to Los Angeles. Tasted some terrific wine, particularly Melville Vineyards, Foley, Foxen and even a couple really nice Syrah's at Fess Parker

Jim,Thank you for your kind words in your comment, and for passing on my blog to your friends. I am glad you enjoyed it. As you will discover as you read more we spend quite a bit of time in Santa Barbara and the wine country north of there. My husband actaully grew up in Santa Ynez Valley and we drink a lot of wine from there. We are wine club members at Fess Parker (I have reviewed quite a few wines from here) and are on the waiting list for Foxen (which produces some of our favorite Pinot Noir).Cheers!

About Me

I am a Swede with 3 obsessions in life, besides my husband, and our dogs Odin and TJ. Those are wine, cheese and chocolate (food in general is of course a given). My obsession for chocolate has always been there but my obsession for wine and cheese started 6 years ago when I moved from Sweden to California. Santa Barbara was my destination and after several trips to the nearby vineyards in Santa Ynez Valley I got very interested and excited about the wines, and the cheeses, that seemed to be made for them, and down that road it is...